Congruence Relationships between Self Images and Product Brands

Abstract

Similarities of brand images with self images were tested to determine differences between (a) most preferred and least preferred brands, (b) socially consumed and privately consumed products, and (c) real-self and ideal-self image relationships.

Anti-consumption and brand avoidance

“…Of the many works in the area of selfconcept, the undesired self (Ogilvie, 1987) is the psychological construct most relevant to brand avoidance. Research in the area of undesired self and image congruity suggest that people consume in ways that enhance or maintain their self-concepts, while simultaneously avoiding objects that could add undesired meaning to their lives, or objects they consider to be incongruent with their existing self-concept (Banister and Hogg, 2004;Dolich, 1969;Freitas, Kaiser, Chandler, Hall, Kim, and Hammidi, 1997;Graeff, 1997;Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967;Heath and Scott, 1998;Hogg, et al, 2000;Kleine et al, 1993;Levy, 1959;McCracken, 1989;Patrick, et al, 2002;Sirgy, 1982). Similarly, organizational disidentification suggests that people distance themselves from organizations and/or boycott the products and services of companies, that they perceive to be incongruent with their own values (Bhattacharya and Elsbach, 2002;Elsbach and Bhattacharya, 2001).…”

“…Much research confirms the notion that consumers express themselves, and construct their identities/ self-concepts through the brands they use (Aaker, 1999;Belk, 1988;Dolich, 1969;Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967;Hogg, Cox, and Keeling, 2000;Levy, 1959;McCracken, 1989;Sirgy, 1982;Solomon, 1983). In contrast, less research focuses on the reverse notion, where consumers reject specific brands in order to avoid adding undesired meaning to their life, with the exception of a few studies (Banister and Hogg, 2004;Englis and Soloman, 1997;Holt, 2002;Kozinets and Handelman, 2004;Muniz and Hamer, 2001;Thompson and Arsel, 2004;Thompson, Rindfleisch, and Arsel, 2006).…”

Do Ethnic Cues Improve Advertising Effectiveness for Ethnic Consumers?

“…Hence, when consumers make product choices, they may be concerned about their self-implications and perceive their choice of product as a way of self-expression. Research has further supported the positive relationship between product-self congruency and consumer decisions (Dolich, 1969;Sirgy, 1980). For example, some studies in multicultural advertising focus on content analyses of product advertisements in order to understand advertising effectiveness across ethnic consumers and cultures (Aaker and Sengupta, 2000;Cho et al, 1999;Lin, 2001;Orth et al, 2007;Zandpour and Harich, 1996;Zhang and Gelb, 1996).…”

Web site customer orientations, Web site quality, and purchase intentions: The role of Web site personality

“…The primary reasoning behind this model that incorporates the Web site personality construct stems from the inability of scholars to find support for the self-congruence model (Aaker, 1997), which suggests that greater congruity between individuals' selves and the characteristics of a brand/store increases preference for that brand/store (Aaker, 1997;Dolich, 1969;Malhotra, 1988;Sirgy, 1982). Although Aaker (1997) acknowledges that her quest for brand personality started with an intention to discover the Big Five human dimensions in brands, cursory review reveals the minimal commonality between brand personality dimensions and human personality dimensions (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neurotism).…”